These guards all provided scoring punch — and some memorable thrills — off the bench for the Bulls in recent years. Watson and Lucas did so with Derrick Rose healthy. Robinson and Augustin shined with Rose out.

Aaron Brooks is poised to be the latest project. Though a league source said a deal isn’t finalized, talks to sign the 6-foot guard to a veteran’s minimum contract are in the advanced stages.

Brooks, 29, is a six-year NBA veteran who also played a season in China. He has averaged 11.1 points and 3.4 assists for four NBA teams and won the NBA's Most Improved Player Award in 2009-10 after averaging 19.8 points for the Rockets while starting all 82 games. He split time between the Rockets and Nuggets last season.

Coincidentally, the Nuggets acquired him after Robinson suffered a knee injury.

Summer play: The Bulls lost to the Kings 80-61 in the quarterfinals Saturday night at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. first-round draft choice Doug McDermott sat out with a minor left foot injury. Tony Snell scored 20 points as the Bulls finished summer play 4-1.

McDermott averaged 18 points in the first four games.

“He’s very efficient,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “The game he had 31 points, he did it on 12 shots. And he’s showing he can play off other people, which is very important. It’s how you work with a unit.

“The way he shoots, it’s similar to (Kyle) Korver. When he comes off a pindown, there are two people jumping out. You can get offense off of that. That automatically creates space for Derrick. He never stops moving. When you add players like that, it adds a lot of value. What has been overlooked is his playmaking ability. When that second defender jumps out, he knows how to make a play.”